To ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, the Government of India has made a targeted move by banning 59 Chinese apps. The IT ministry has released the app list, including ByteDance’s TikTok, WeChat, Helo, Likee, Shareit, and others owned by Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu and Xiaomi. The move also comes against the backdrop of the nation’s response to the stand-off along the LAC.
This digital airstrike against China has given a standing opportunity to entrepreneurs and startups holding alternatives of banned Chinese apps (on the App Store and Play Store) to scale and expand their user base overnight.
Additionally, it has given a bouncing pitch to appreneurs to jump on this banned app’s bandwagon and come up with a clone app to amass new users and drive millions of lost traffic.
As your trusted mobile app development company in India and the USA, Codiant has created a one-stop guide to create the best alternative Chinese apps clones that will make it easier for you to decide your favorite domain, work upon the features, study its competitors and develop a superior app product.
Let’s make our first move in descending order i.e. with the app with the highest no. of downloads and popularity.
Create An Entertainment and Video App like TikTok
Develop a short video-creating and networking app like TikTok that allows users to create 15-second videos by lip-synching and dancing and enables them to share it with the community.
Top Competitors and Alternatives of TikTok App Mitron, BoloIndya, Dubsmash, Funimate, Animoto, director, Videolicious, Chingari
Total No. of Downloads- 1,000,000,000+ Globally
Must Read: How to develop a video app like TikTok? Cost included
Key Features of Tiktok App
- Simple and non-penalizing UI
- Create and edit profile
- Likes are given in the form of Hearts
- Live-Ops – Hashtags, Challenges and Search feature
- Tools for Expression- contains filters and AI effects
- Social Feature- Duets
- Discovering the “Original Sound” posted by the user
- Follow and unfollow People
- Explore by hashtags, discover featured stuff
- Watch an endless stream of recommended videos
How to Build an eCommerce Online Shopping App like Club Factory
ClubFactory is the trendiest eCommerce platform that sells fashion, cosmetics, and accessories at the right combination of price, variety, and trendy designs. This e-commerce app entered in India in 2016 and took the sector by storm and has grown by leaps and bounds since then. India was Club Factory’s largest market, accounting for 40 million of its total 70 million users. So, if you expect to take the position of Club Factory near future, only one golden rule applies: tap on consumer demand at economic prices.
Competitors and Alternatives of Club Factory App Bewakoof, Zara, Ajio, AliExpress, LimeRoad, ShopClues, Jabong
Total No. of Downloads- 40,000,000+ (more than 40 million users in India)
Key Features of Club Factory App
- Instant Messaging to allow sellers to communicate with customers on Club Factory directly
- Country Selection to enable customers to choose the desired city to place an order
- Multilingual Feature so that customers can access the app in the desired language
- Product Catalog to show category-wise products
- Search by Filters to find products by price, brand, color, and other subcategories
- Add to Cart to add desired products into the cart
- Easy Checkout from the product detail page as well as the cart page
- Image Recognition gives users the ability to search for a similar kind of product with image
On the same lineup of features integrated into the eCommerce app development solution, you can develop alternatives of other banned Chinese apps like Shein and Romwe.
Create A Video Editing App like “Likee”
Create an app clone like ‘Likee’. Likee is a special effects short video editing tool that allows users to create a music video in less than a minute. People use this app to not only create funny clips but also to watch life hacks, and food recipes and discover interesting content.
Competitors and Alternatives of Likee App Zoomerang, UniVideo, Vigo Video, Quik, Sweet Selfie, cameraFi, VideoStar
Total No. of Downloads- 330,000,000 Globally
Key Features of the Likee App
- Thousands of stickers and magical emoticons
- Music magic filters with a special effect that syncs with the music beat
- Smart features such as hair color, 4D magic, superpowers, etc.
- Makeup and micro-surgery features
- Video dubbing from the world’s popular movies
- LIVE video broadcasting platform
- GPS feature to spot ‘Nearby’ likee users
Develop An App Like SHAREit and Xender- A File Sharing App
SHAREit allows users to transfer files faster between devices in seconds. Users can share movies, videos, audio files, images and documents in different formats.
Competitors and Alternatives of SHAREit App SuperBeam, Files by Google, JioSwitch, Zapya, Send Anywhere
Total No. of Downloads- 1,000,000,000+ (more than a billion users globally)
Key Features of SHAREit App
- Upload files and documents by adding tags and putting categories
- Manage files and search documents based on filters
- View documents in format such as .doc, PDF or PPT
- Secure file encryption to safely store and transmit documents through SSL layer
- Location sharing with other users to give them access to documents and files
- Quick and timely sharing options to share the file between two or more parties
- Activity Status to check stats on number of files shared and received by the user
How to Create a Messaging App like WeChat
WeChat (also known as Weixin) is a free messaging and calling app that enables users to connect with family and friends across countries. It is a multipurpose messaging app that also integrates social media and mobile payment developed by Tencent.
Competitors and Alternatives of WeChat App Whatsapp, Telegram, Viber, Hike Skype, Line, Kakao, Wickr
Total No. of Downloads-1,000,000,000+ (more than a billion users globally)
Key Features of WeChat App
- Messaging and Call: Exchange text and voice messages between users and support free (voice, video and conference) calls.
- Localization: Allows users to share location with friends.
- Search Engine: Users can explore content within the social network.
- Discover moments: Post photos and status updates with full controls of public and private. Plus, comment and like posts on your friend’s moment’s page.
- Scan QR code: See a quick price comparison by scanning the QR code on any domestic product.
- Shake: Tap the shake button to start shaking the phone and discover new buddies in the app.
- Gaming: An integrated gaming platform to launch games within the app.
- Go Dutch: This feature allows users to divide the total bill between multiple people with the right amount and denomination of money.
- WeChat Wallet: It is a mobile account top-up which saves users a fan trip to China Mobile or China Unicorn.
- Pay Bills: WeChat wallet allows you to pay bills for electricity, water, heat, telecommunications, and internet.
- Book Rail and Flight Tickets: Allows users to book tickets and make reservations.
- Ticket Booking Service: Users can book a taxi, movie tickets, hotels, flash sales, houses for sales, and more.
- Web WeChat: This feature allows users to set up a chat window in the browser or set up a standalone desktop application. This way users do not have to check phones again and again if working on the system.
- Voiceprint: Users don’t have to remember their password to log into WeChat. They can verbally recite digits on the screen to log in to the app.
- Track Deliveries: This feature lets users track the status of express deliveries within the country by scanning the delivery form’s barcode.
- Step Tracker: Also known as ‘WeRun’ this feature allows users to track the step count.
- Order Food, Reserve Table: Many official accounts of WeChat offer users the ability to do things like order food and reserve a table.
What are the key alternatives to the banned Chinese apps in India, and how can entrepreneurs capitalize on this opportunity?
The Indian government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps opens avenues for appreneurs. Top alternatives like Mitron, Club Factory, and Likee offer opportunities for entrepreneurs to tap into the vast user base left by the banned apps. Codiant provides a comprehensive guide for developing superior clones, ensuring a strategic entry into the evolving app ecosystem.
How to Create a Photo Scanner App like CamScanner
Camscanner is the scanner app that converts images into PDF in a simple tap or you can say this iOS and Android app can turn a smartphone device into an image scanner.
Competitors and Alternatives of CamScanner App
Pocket Scanner, Office Lens, Open Note Scanner, Scanbot, Google PhotoScan Total No. of Downloads- 100,000,000+ (more than hundred million downloads globally)
Key Features of CamScanner App
- Digitize Document: Scan and digitize all types of paper documents.
- Optimize Scan Quality: Smart cropping and auto-enhancing for clear resolution.
- Optical Character Recognition: This feature recognizes texts in document images and extracts them from images for later searching, editing or sharing.
- Share PDF/JPEG Files: Easily share documents in PDF or JPEG format through emails, social media channels, etc.
- Quick Search and Sync: Search documents by tags, and categories and sync them across platforms.
- Add Cloud Space: Add extra cloud space (premium subscription service).
Only If You See The Silver Lining….
You can’t deny the fact, that the 59 banned Chinese apps in India (the app platforms that garnered millions of users in India) have given a power, an opportunity, an open avenue, and a profitable prospect to foray into the mobile app ecosystem and accumulate all dispersed users. The one who grabs the opportunity in the short run could be the winner and turn this opportunity into a fortune in mobile app development.
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